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Real reason Paul Pogba was banned from active football for 4yrs

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Juventus player Paul Pogba has been banned from football for four years following a failed drug test, according to reports by Italian media.

In September, the ex-Manchester United player received a provisional suspension due to elevated testosterone levels found in his drug test.

Testosterone is a hormone that increases the endurance of athletes.

The 30-year-old was randomly tested after Juventus’ first match of the season on August 20, 2023.

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According to BBC Sport, Pogba is expected to challenge Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal’s ruling.

Juventus informed the BBC that they were notified by the anti-doping tribunal on Thursday morning.

This decision implies that Pogba will not be able to participate in any matches until 2027, when he reaches the age of 33.

The ban was backdated to the date of the failed test.

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Pogba injured in first start after 12 months
During the initial suspension, Pogba’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, said, “What is certain is that Paul Pogba never wanted to break a rule.”

BBC reports that Pogba was found to have violated rules due to the presence of non-endogenous testosterone metabolites in the test, indicating an external source of the substances.

Juventus welcomed back Pogba, a former player of the club, with a four-year contract in July 2022 following his departure from Manchester United as a free agent.

During his time with the Italian giants from 2012–2016, he appeared in 178 matches and scored 34 goals.

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The 2018 World Cup winner has faced ongoing injury issues since returning to Juventus, causing him to miss the recent World Cup in Qatar.

This season, Pogba has accumulated 51 minutes on the pitch as a substitute in matches against Bologna and Empoli.

During the previous season, he accumulated a total of 162 minutes across various competitions but did not score any goals.

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CAF Confederation Cup: Enyimba fight back to draw against Zamalek

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Enyimba fought back from a 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with holders Zamalek of Egypt in their CAF Confederation Cup Group D clash in Uyo.

Seifeddine Jaziri put Zamalek ahead three minutes after the half-hour mark.

The visitors doubled their advantage through Omar Faraj four minutes before the break.

Enyimba showed their resilience by pulling a goal back in first-half stoppage time through Ifeanyi Ihemekwele before Ufere Chinedu equalised in the 57th minute.

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The People’s Elephant had chances to win the game but were let down by their poor finishing.

Daniel Olanrewaju’s side now have one point from two games.

The Aba giants will travel to Mozambique for their next game against Black Bulls.

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Osimhen scores 10th Galatasaray goal in Sivasspor thriller

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Nigerian international Victor Osimhen delivered an impressive performance, scoring his seventh goal of the season as 10-man Galatasaray secured a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Sivasspor in a dramatic match on Sunday.

The game started with Osimhen narrowly missing an early opportunity in the 8th minute, his powerful shot flashing just wide of the post.

However, the contest took a controversial turn in the 15th minute when Metehan Baltaci received a red card after a VAR review, leaving the visitors a man down.

Sivasspor capitalised on their numerical advantage in the 25th minute. Garry Rodrigues pounced on a rebound from goalkeeper Fernando Muslera to smash the ball into the roof of the net, putting the home side 1-0 ahead.

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Galatasaray responded swiftly, equalising in the 36th minute. Yunus Akgun’s shot benefitted from a goalkeeping error, bringing the score to 1-1.

Moments later, Osimhen came close again, his header in stoppage time denied by an excellent save.

Just before half-time, Galatasaray earned a penalty after Djordje Nikolic’s foul. Osimhen stepped up and confidently converted the kick, sending the ball into the top right corner to give Galatasaray a 2-1 lead.

The visitors extended their advantage early in the second half when Baris Alper Yilmaz scored in the 53rd minute, assisted by Yunus Akgun, making it 3-1.

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Sivasspor fought back, with Turac Boke reducing the deficit a minute into added time after connecting with Noah Sonko Sundberg’s cross.

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Man City’s Pep Guardiola Responds To José Mourinho Jibe

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he was only joking when he referred to winning twice as many Premier League titles as José Mourinho, after the former Chelsea boss said that he had won his titles fairly.

The Spaniard also said City were innocent until proven guilty, responding to Mourinho’s allusions to their alleged violations of Premier League financial rules from 2009 to 2018, which the club has always denied.

Guardiola, who held up six fingers to Liverpool fans on Sunday, a gesture similar to Mourinho holding up three fingers in 2018 before getting sacked by Manchester United, had made the comment when asked if he could suffer a fate similar to the Portuguese.

“I hope not in my case … He won three, I won six … but we are the same like that,” Guardiola answered.

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Mourinho responded to Guardiola’s comment on Friday, ahead of his team Fenerbahce’s clash with Besiktas.

“I won fairly and cleanly … I don’t want to win by dealing with 150 court cases,” Turkish outlet Hurriyet quoted Mourinho as saying.

City did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mourinho’s statement.

Guardiola, speaking to reporters later on Friday, said he had no bad intentions when making the comment about Mourinho.

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“If I have offended him, I am so sorry. But it was a joke. The fact is he has three and I have six, it is a fact. But the intention was completely fine,” he said.

“I think both with our teams – he with Chelsea, myself with Man City – we can sit in the table with Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger right? For the many, many titles we’ve won. I’m pretty sure sooner or later they will congratulate us.”

Guardiola said there were many people around the world who wanted to see City at the bottom.

“We are innocent until proven as guilty. After that we’ll see what happens, but it is what it is,” he added.

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Mourinho has taken shots at City before, saying in October that he was hoping he could add a fourth Premier League medal to his cabinet if City are stripped of their titles and United, who finished second in 2017-18, are awarded the Premier League trophy.

Chelsea, where Mourinho won his three English top-flight titles in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2014-15, are being investigated by the Premier League for potential financial rule breaches between 2012 and 2019.

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